In Five Years Time
by Smoke and Lavender
Summary: A series of one- shots focusing mainly on the relationship of Skye and Jeffrey from ages 13-17, filling in for the gap of time not described in between TPaPM and TPiS.
1. Stars- Age Thirteen

"Pass it to me!" Skye cried out as Jane raced on Jeffrey's heels. Jeffrey zig zagged in between the tress of Point Mouette, not hesitating to quickly kick it over to Skye. In the corner of her eye, Skye could see Jane sprinting to her net, protecting her goal.  
It was another two against one game, with Jeffrey playing defense and goalie and Skye reigning as mid fielder. Jane was on her a own, playing as many positions as she could juggle.  
Eyes narrowing, Skye dashed for the ball, aiming and executing a clean goal into the net. Jane slowed behind her, heaving for air.  
"What's the score?" She gasped as Jeffrey came up behind Skye. They high fived. Another victorious win of Friday Sunset Soccer was tallied mentally onto the list. Their sixth win for the summer.  
"7-2, won fair and square," Skye said, and Jane slapped a palm to her forehead.  
"There's always next week," Jeffrey added, taking a swig of the plastic water bottle he shared with Skye. She stole it out of his mouth mid drink, unscrewing the cap and waterfoutaining her share into her mouth before giving it back to him with a grin.  
The goal of Friday Sunset Soccer was to finish when the sun started to set. That way, the trio could eat dinner, then practice the piano, write, do math, or whatever they wanted to do with their evening.  
"I'm going to go inside, the mosquitoes are killing me," Jane exclaimed, not hesitating to slap her right arm, where another mosquito sat on her arm. Small and big dots alike were displayed all over her body, her long legs red. She did what she said she would, the back door clicking behind her.  
"I'm going to stargaze. Jeffrey, want to join me?" Skye asked, already heading down the rocky coastline to her new telescope. She had gotten it for her birthday, and she had been out on the beach almost every night to observe the stars and the planets.  
Jeffrey shrugged, figured that his piano practicing could wait. He would never miss an opportunity to hang out with Skye alone.  
Jeffrey wasn't really sure about how to act around Skye anymore. He liked her, he knew that for sure, but it was hard to express his feelings when Skye was always telling him new stories during the school year on how she rejected yet another boy. He wondered, if all of them failed, how could he possibly succeed? So for now, he waited until the time was right. Though when was that time and when would it come? Jeffrey could never tell, although he was always on his feet, anticipating and preparing for when the time came.  
They ran down to the beach, shoving each other down to Jeffrey's father, Alec's, dock where the Bernadette was resting from the day trip they took the other day with Aunt Claire, Iantha, and Mr. Penderwick. On the edge was Skye's treasured telescope, with some papers of constellations neatly laminated and clipped onto the side.  
"Here, come! The sky is really clear tonight," Skye hastily set up the telescope, tilting it upwards to the cloudless night. Jeffrey neatly sat down on the edge of the dock, his feet dangling, tickling the semi shallow water below.  
"So, what do you know about constellations?" Skye questioned, and Jeffrey gulped. They had been learning about this in Science but it was summer... He didn't think he would need to know.  
"Well," he started slowly, biting his tongue, focusing, "I know only one constellation, and I'm sure you know it too." Skye jumped up and down in excitement and Jeffrey couldn't help but smile.  
"At least that's better than Jane and Rosalind. Tell me, which one? Is it Cetus? Or maybe it's Grus, that's one's really nice..." She realized she was rambling and her eyes flickered back to him.  
"Sorry, back to you," _No please, keep rambling, I seriously can't compare my astronomical skills to yours..._ "Which one were you thinking of?" She sat next to him, expectantly waiting. The crickets quieted and the moon glowed down on them, leaning in for his response.  
"The only one I know is Orion," Skye nodded, and he knew this was his chance. He could finally explain how he felt!  
"You see, Orion was a hunter. And Orion loved this goddess, Artemis. They were best friends, and they did everything together, especially hunting. That was their favorite thing to do, just like how we do soccer together. Artemis, without knowing, uh..." The end wasn't very promising. But that should have done the trick. He was Orion, and she was Artemis.  
"What?" Skye pestered, struggling to sit up. Her elbow touched something cold, followed by a splash. She looked to her left, then to her right, but the telescope seemed nowhere to be found.  
"Oh my gosh! My telescope!" She looked into the murky depths, her piercing blue eyes welling up with tears, the story forgotten. _Oh dang, what am I going to do?_ Panicking, he instinctively did what he thought was best, and quickest.  
Feeling cold water splash over him, he had no time to shiver as he stretched his arms out in front of him, sand spilling over his palms.  
_It's here, it's here, I know it. _  
The whole ocean was cold, and he had no idea how he was going to find it. He couldn't see anything, and whenever he opened his eyes, the salt made them sting. Jeffrey was going blind, and his chances were becoming slimmer and slimmer by the second.  
His lungs protested for air, and he reached down into the grains of sand one more time.  
Reaching around a cylinder, bubbles escaped his mouth in happiness. The telescope!  
Breaking the surface, waves lapped his chin and he grinned at her.  
"The telescope! You did it!" He hauled the dripping telescope up, and she helped him up, squeezing his soggy frame.  
Jeffrey sighed, figuring she would never need to know the tragic end of Orion's story. Never know that that Artemis killed him by accident, only knowing after he died that he truly loved him.

* * *

**And that's the first installment of In Five Years Time! I'm not really happy about how TPiS ended, and there are many gaps in the novel that I felt needed to be put in. If you have any criticism or comments please review! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this wonderful adventure with me!**

**-Smoke**


	2. The Meteor Theory- Age Fourteen

"Haydn!"

"No, stop it!" Skye said, covering her ears. She could easily say that music was far from her favorite thing to talk about. Sadly, it just happened to be Jeffrey's favorite topic.

"No, Skye, I mean look at this book! It's a whole biography on Haydn! I've been looking for this since it came out in March!" Skye rolled her eyes. They were in Broadside Bookshop, her favorite book store. It was Easter weekend so Jeffrey convinced Mrs. T-D to let him come down to Cameron to see the Penderwicks.

"No, I need to find this certain book! We're not looking for a biography on somebody who isn't even alive anymore." Jeffrey tilted his head ever so slightly.

"But isn't the guy who wrote your book dead?" Skye elbowed him, and Jeffrey didn't wince like he usually did. He had recently joined the Conservatory's soccer team, and had become quite built, almost as strong as she was.

"He is dead, yes, but this was his last book that he never finished." Dr. Keegan Raine was, in fact, dead, but his spirit still lived on. He was both her father's and her favorite author, and he was also a local author and he had even let Skye interview him for a project last year.

"Haydn's dead too, and has been for years."

"And yet people still know him and adore his music."

"And people still enjoy Dr. Keegan Raine's books. What's your point?" She shot back.

"Music is no match for Science."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." At this point they were glaring at each other.

"I'm going to test this theory. Buy this book," Skye shoved the book into his arms. He stared at the five pounds sitting in his hands. _How is this incomplete?_ He thought.

"Fine, then buy this," he gave her his book.

Skye flipped over to look at the price of the book. Her eyes bulged.

"25 dollars? I only brought 20!" She protested. She showed him the crumpled twenty formerly in her back pocket.

"Don't worry, I'll pay for both books." He went up to the cashier, who seemed about a few years older, probably working a summer job, with a fifty dollar bill and pleasantly paid, complete with a "Thank you." And "How was your day?" To the cashier.

Skye heard the cashier giggle from outside the shop and was disgusted. Gagging, she found it impossible that Jeffrey was so charming even older girls flirted with him. He couldn't be more oblivious.

_A Few Hours Later..._

"The theory simply states that if the variables ac is 12, then d, e, f, and m are all meteors that will pass the Earth in the next 13.5 years." Jeffrey read out loud before putting a bent bookmark into the book and closing it. He was only on page 60 and didn't understand anything that was going on.

"Do you get all that?" He asked Skye, who was lying down opposite to him on the rug, her feet touching his left hand.

"Yeah, it makes perfect sense. It's quite simple really." Jeffrey stared up at the ceiling, watching Skye's fan spin lazily in circles.

"But get this..." Skye's ranting on Hayden's red hair fell into the background as he thought. He looked outside, watching the sun go down, blazing an aggressive mix of orange and red.

"We have to go outside. Now," Jeffrey said urgently, suddenly up on his knees.

"Why?" Skye asked, but Jeffrey was already tugging on her arm, taking a beach blanket on their way out.

"Sit!" Jeffrey said, and Skye sat in discontent.

"If we're outside, can we at least play soccer or something?" It was pitch black, but the porch lights were on.

"No," Jeffrey gazed up above, lying down and putting his hands behind his head. _Please Dr. Raine, be right!_

Then they fell, dropping like rain. White stripes zipping through the dark night.

"Meteors," Skye said in awe. They kept on going. A whole shower!

Skye didn't even notice when Jeffrey shyly put an arm around her shoulder.


End file.
